SEARCA, PAJ join hands in aggie journalism award

A journalism award on Southeast Asian agricultural and rural development is set to be created.

To be named "SEARCA Outstanding Agricultural Journalist Award," it will be a joint project of the government-hosted, Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Philippine Agricultural Journalists, Inc. (PAJ).

The project was discussed by SEARCA Director Arsenio M. Balisacan and officials of PAJ headed by Agricultural editor Roman Floresca at a recent meeting at the SEARCA office in Los Baños, Laguna.

Dr. Balisacan, a University of the Philippines Diliman professor in Economics and former Agriculture Undersecretary, said the award will be a public recognition of the efforts made by Southeast Asian journalists, including Filipinos, who provide high-quality, balanced coverage of agricultural and rural development issues in the region, which is SEARCA’s service area.

SEARCA is one of the 14 "centers of excellence" of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), an intergovernment body founded in 1965 to foster cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in education, science, and culture.

SEAMEO has for its members all the Southeast Asian countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

SEARCA was established in 1966 to provide SEAMEO member-countries with high quality education and training in agriculture; to promote, undertake, and coordinating research programs related to Southeast Asia’s problems and needs; and to disseminate the findings of agriculture research and experimentations.

PAJ is a nationwide association of agriculture editors, writers, information officers, and broadcasters of national dailies and magazines, television and radio stations, and academic and R&D agencies and institutions.

The SEARCA journalism award aims to foster and enhance public awareness of the issues and concerns in agriculture and rural development in Southeast Asia, said Dr. Balisacan, who is a leading expert on rural develoment, poverty, and development policy research in East Asia.

Elaborating on the award, he stressed: "SEARCA acknowledges the big role being played by agricultural journalists in the Southeast Asian region in raising public awareness of the significance of agricultural research for food security and poverty alleviation. It is for this reason that we are honoring them through this project which we will start this year, possibly every year thereafter."

The SEARCA official further averred: "Journalists can communicate to millions of farmers in the region complex agricultural and economic issues, report on successful solutions and developments, which would otherwise be confined to research labaratories, technical reports, and scientific conferences."

Dr. Balisacan said the award winner will receive $1,000, plus a trophy, to be presented during SEARCA’s anniversary celebration this November.

Themes of the journalism award encompass regional cooperation and integration for agriculture and rural development; environmental sustainability of agriculture and rural development; and role of the private sector in attaining agriculture and rural development.

The award will complement the PAJ’s BINHI Awards (Agriculture Journalism), considered today’s most sought-after awards by agriculture writers.

Held every year since 1977, the BINHI Awards contest is primarily aimed at giving due recognition to outstanding agriculture writers. – Rudy A. Fernandez